My Experience During The Divine: A Play for Sarah Bernhardt

The spatial exerience

Built connected to the expansive Reitz Union, one is immediately immersed in Constans Theatre once one enters the lobby. The lobby and auditorium are both completely renovated and flawless-- a professional theatre to say the least. As I walked in to the auditorium, it was dark and nearly silent. The acoustics of the auditorium purified sound, and only a buzz of sidebar conversation could be recognized. Once the background music silenced, so did the vast audience, all were focused on the commencement of the Divine. Place is an important component of the Good Life because one has to feel comfortable and secure when they want to be utterly focused and immersed in a task.

The Social experience

I prefer to watch plays alone, it provides me with a day to myself while also allowing me to be completely immersed in the experience of the theatre. However, that isn't to say that I become completely introverted. Watching a live theatre performance is a lot different than watching a movie. During a play, the present audience is a lot more engaged in what is going on, and are therefore more openly connected. When there are certain moments of heightened emotion during the play, all of the audience can better realize their solidarity with everyone around them, therefore allowing more connection within the audience. I may have gone alone, but I was not alone while watching the play.

The cultural and intellectual experience

I enjoyed this play mainly because it addresses the expansiveness of the process of power. Sarah Bernhardt is fixated on creating a social drama which will expose the poor working conditions of the working class, which will thus help to propel her career farther than a frivolous sense of popularity. During the climax with the Boss, he scoffs at Sarah's attempt to expose him by arguing that no matter what happens to him after he is exposed, power will just shift from one entity to the next, readjusting the balance of winners and losers. I thought this was a very valuable lesson, because the play is trying to explain to us that political justice can not create universal satisfaction for everyone.

The emotional experience

This play was able to expose the underbelly of society's incessant thirst for success. The play is an early 20th century drama, centered on an infant yet explosive state of industrial boom in capitalist America. The angle of the show's narrative pins us against the boss of a clothing factory. Once we believe that our protagonists are going to live happily ever after once the boss is exposed, we are instead encountered with this crushing truth of our society, explaining that not all could be saved for even those that are trying to save fail to help everyone. There will inevitably be someone who is hurt.

Created By
Alcino Donadel
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